Steel Middlemen Are Finding Fatter Profits in the
Metal

America's steelmakers have struggled for years to make themselves consistently profitable. More and more, however, it is the industry's middlemen that are making money from the metal.

The middlemen operate service centers and processors, which specialize in modifying basic steel products to meet particular requirements of various manufacturers. That modification business is already a $25 billion-a-year market and is expanding as well...